Photo of the Museum Courtesy of www.Wikipedia.org.
Yesterday I heard the sound of a freight train and a sudden memory of being at my grandmother’s house in Italy flashed by. She lived close to the train tracks and in the middle of the night very loud freight trains would go by. At first, it was annoying, but then it became a welcomed hum in the middle of the night. That sound is still a connection to Italy, the memory of “staying at Nonina’s house.”
Another fond memory of being at Nonina’s house was visiting the “Museum Stibbert.” Most people who have visited Florence, Italy do not know about this special museum. When my mother was young she spent many afternoons at the Stibbert gardens and going through the museum. She said that is where her love of travel and seeing the world came from.
Frederick Stibbert was fascinated by antiques, especially military armour (European, Islamic and Japanese), which he collected and staged in battle scenes. In the photo you can see how he staged the armour in life size form, so you could appreciate the armour and the men going into battle. It’s fantastic to see. Frederick spent a lot of time, thought and money into creating each individual room.
Visit the main website for Museo Stibbert where you can view more photos of the different rooms — you’ll be amazed. Frederick’s father was from England and his mother was from Florence. His father left him very wealthy, so that he could pursue his passion in life. When Frederick died in 1906 he left this museum to the city of Florence. They opened it for visitors in 1909.
Every tourist should have this on their list of sites to see when in Florence. Of course, I am partial to it, because it was about 10 minutes from my grandmother’s house, so I have many memories of visiting this museum and its gardens.
Here’s to special memories that come to us when we least expect them – this time it was the sound of a freight train.
Photo of the outside of the Museum courtesy of www.Wikipedia.org.
Like a good Italian, I owned a Bialetti Moka Express that I bought in Italy. I say, “owned,” because like a good mother I gave my little espresso machine to my daughter when she went off to College.
Today I thought of my ex-father/n/law who is in heaven. He was 99 years old just shy of turning 100 when he passed away a few years ago! He was from Germany and loved breakfast. His favorite place to go for pancakes was “The Original Pancake House.” We would often go every weekend after church. A family ritual for Opa. His favorite pancakes were the 49er pancakes. A nice memory.
Unfortunately, due to tough parking, I was 30 minutes late. The line for being seated was so long that I was too shy to go through the line asking, “Are you a member of the Midwestern Meetup Group?” It wasn’t going to happen. Maybe if I had had a megaphone and made a Midwestern joke, but I hadn’t been prepared for such a crowd.
More pancakes. I work with two Ukranian Technicians and their mother’s often make crepe style pancakes, but instead of making them sweet, they add chicken or a vegetable and roll it up. Last week one of them shared with me a chicken crepe. He told me when he was young his mother made a lot of dinner dishes using these thin pancakes.
Amazon opened its first bookstore last November 2015 in the Seattle area. For those of you who might not know this, Amazon’s headquarters is in Seattle. I am excited about this, because it means that bookstores will hopefully be making a “come back.”
To my Asian friends, I’d like to say, “Happy Chinese New Year!” I wish you a healthy, happy and prosperous 2016! I hope you receive a special red envelope too. Last year I had a friend who gave me a red envelope with a $1 inside and I do think it brought me luck. I smiled, because it was a gift I did not expect, so I felt included in the New Year’s celebration, which was wonderful! This year, at the suggestion of one of our Asian employees, our company went to a Chinese brunch to celebrate together. It was very nice — about 25 of us. A girlfriend of mine was invited for dumplings by her Asian yoga teacher. So, thank you for including us in your celebration!
If you are taking a trip around the world, can you travel with only a 10.5 lb backpack? Tynan can and in his Blog “
Brilliant Viewpoint 